Orbital Period
by mickeylover303
Summary: Five times Naruto gets caught in various stages of kissing Sasuke and the little things that help bring a relationship full circle. AU.


_A/N goes up here because I'm warning for scenes of a sexual nature. My judgment is bad, hence the seemingly innocuous summary, and the M rating doesn't cover everything._

_I've always wanted to write an AU one-shot with a kind of protective Itachi because I can't find many, onlythis didn't turn out to be that fic. It's a songfic (well, my version of a songfic) that started with Lady Gaga's "Boys Boys Boys" and ended with a Bump of Chicken album. The get-together aspect was a surprise, alongside finding out I apparently ship Naruto/Sakura when I'm not paying attention. And apart from the "five things" scenario, which I love, it's not what I wanted it to be, and the lack of dialogue is opposite my usual schtick.__ And yes, I admit this is one of the most abrupt endings I've ever done purposely, even for me. There's a follow-up I wrote, about Itachi's conversation with Naruto and Sasuke, but I couldn't include it because it didn't fit for some reason. Overall, this was just something I was in the mood to write, and I don't think it can be much more than that. Or at least I don't want it to be.  
_

_**Notes on Japan:** I took a lot of liberties with this, especially with the Tokyo Dome part. I'm keeping it simple because I don't claim to understand municipalities and wards that are really cities and things like that. Neither do I claim to understand how the various train systems work. Give me New York any day over Japan. Just know that Sapporo, where I say Sasuke is originally from, is the capital of Hokkaido and is famous for its miso ramen; and Odawara, where the story takes place, is a city in Kanagawa._

...

**Orbital Period**

The dare is simple but still one hell of a dare for someone like Sakura to come up with, which alone gives Naruto that much more incentive to go through with it despite the total insanity behind it. And it's totally insane since they just broke up a little under a month ago because of some quip she said about his manliness, which led to an argument that neither of them want to dredge up. More importantly, Sasuke is the guy Sakura used to have a crush on. Even more importantly, Naruto isn't gay. However, Sakura knows Naruto is the kind of person who won't turn down anything that puts his pride on the line and won't refuse anything that involves being the recipient of ramen he doesn't have to pay for, even for something as undoubtedly disastrous as accepting a dare to kiss Sasuke.

The actual conversation takes place over the phone, lasts no more than fifteen minutes, including Naruto's gamut of emotions from stunned and offended to a strange mix of horror and intrigue when Sakura preys upon his one-track mind for a particular food. They hang up at 10:37, when Naruto presses the end button on his cell phone at exactly 23 minutes before Sakura's curfew. And it's also when he comes to understand why Ino still blames him for his influence on Sakura during the year he and Sakura dated and makes an assuredly not gay Naruto realise he would rather kiss someone like that Gaara kid he's seen in passing from Class 4-B next door because kissing Gaara instead would definitely be less devastating to his relationship with Sasuke.

Not that Naruto can accurately gauge what his relationship with Sasuke is. They fight a lot, surprisingly get along a lot more when neither of them runs off with their mouth, and Naruto likes to consider them the typical on-and-off friends who publically deny having any connection to each other and try to hide the fact they've known each other's phone numbers since that fucked up year in elementary school when Sasuke lost his parents in a car accident. Because Sasuke tries to forget the parents he once had while Naruto tries to remember the parents he never knew, and it's that silently acknowledged commonality of loss between them that allows Naruto to saunter with a far from nervous gait into the library and glide right next to a Sasuke who is obviously preoccupied with the assignment for their history class due three days after tomorrow that Naruto has yet to start.

But despite every instinct protesting against the idea of kissing Sasuke, his inner self flailing at the idea of Naruto debasing his own masculinity in the most undignified way, he can't ignore the most pressing influence on his decision to accept the dare aside from his incredulity that Sakura is the one who challenges him to do it. Sakura's offering to pay for a week's worth of ramen from Ichiraku, his favourite place to eat the food he's afraid to try living without, and it brings Naruto back to the dilemma of not being able to turn down the ramen he's figuratively drooling over.

Taking the intention of fulfilling the dare with him, Naruto heads to school the next morning under the knowledge that Sakura is watching like she says she will to make sure Naruto goes through with it. The library where Sasuke likes to hide before the first tardy bell rings is practically barren when Naruto enters, but it doesn't take long for him to find Sasuke sitting at a small table across from the sixth row of bookshelves in the back. Sasuke's sequestered the corner between the computer catalogue and the obscure section of books the library is supposed to be getting rid of, with appropriately obscure subjects like Hojoujutsu Naruto only knows from the top of his head because he likes playing video games set in feudal Japan and distinctly recalls one game where he repeatedly pressed the O button on his controller to make his samurai character restrain a prisoner with a long, thin cord in some kind of intricate bondage style that's more disturbing to Naruto now than it was then.

Looking up from some book that Naruto can only describe as thick, heavy, and ultimately something that would take him entirely too long to read, Sasuke glares at him, a grouchy kind of glower that relays how much he welcomes Naruto interrupting his study time for the second time this week for whatever trivial reason Sasuke silently says he doesn't care for.

Naruto's mentally preparing himself for what he's about to do, outweighing the cons with the prospect of free ramen, and although he again tells himself that he's not gay or bi or anything other than straight, he can sort of kind of see the appeal of his not-always-friend when Sasuke unwittingly gives Naruto his full attention. Sasuke's not girlish or any sort of feminine that Naruto usually finds attractive, but he's…pretty—as in it doesn't pain Naruto to appreciate features he's opportunely becoming conscious of. A slightly pale face, round at cheeks that curve downward and edged by sharper lines that lead towards his chin, with those darker than average eyes Sasuke has that bore into Naruto like Sasuke's planning fifty plus one ways to violently discourage Naruto from opening his mouth.

Not wanting to lose his nerve, Naruto acts before Sasuke does. He gets a chance to open his mouth anyway, leaning down as he concentrates on the way Sasuke's glare turns into a look of confusion, and Naruto rushes into the feel of a smooth bottom lip in between his own chapped ones.

At first, Sasuke doesn't move. His eyes are wide in shock, and Naruto isn't sure if he's still breathing, but the dare is supposed to include tongue. Accordingly, Naruto pushes his way onto Sasuke's lap, half-way propped on the table as he grabs a hold of the pristine, white collar fixed stiffly around Sasuke's neck to bring their bodies a little closer. He snatches the thick book from Sasuke's hand, letting it drop to the floor carelessly, and the loud snap when it hits the floor seems to be the trick to jarring Sasuke to do something beyond staring at Naruto.

Those dark eyes widening even further, Sasuke finally responds with a harsh intake of breath, and as his mouth opens, their noses bump awkwardly when Naruto tries to deepen the kiss.

It's almost like Sasuke's never kissed anyone before because Sasuke's mouth is seemingly all over the side of his face, but then Naruto remembers this is bordering on non-consensual. The only indication otherwise is the slight tug on the hem of Naruto's wrinkled shirt, and it's enough to make Naruto want to continue if only to see if the kiss will get better; it's different and clumsy, something an annoyingly usually flawless Sasuke actually isn't good at, and Naruto soon gets caught up in the fact that Sasuke's breath smells like smoke and tobacco and some kind of lemonade laced with mint trying to cover up the taste of too much sugar.

Naruto's getting into it, really into it, and there's suddenly this urgency involved in the act of sucking on Sasuke's tongue for reasons outside the realm of a dare, and a no longer lumbering Sasuke makes a not so discreet attempt to swallow all the saliva out of Naruto's mouth.

Though, it's not so much as Sasuke's trying to desiccate Naruto as much as Sasuke's trying to devour his soul, and Naruto takes back his assumption about Sasuke not being able to kiss because Sasuke _can_. It's more assertive than Naruto's used to, more demanding and gripping than the kisses from the kinds of girls he's kissed, but Sasuke's a guy, and when the shock that Sasuke's giving into the kiss as much Naruto is taking finally sets in, Naruto's never been more grateful to hear the sound of Kiba screeching out his name from behind him.

It's the umpteenth time his friend has walked in on Naruto making out with someone, but it's not with a girl this time. It's Sasuke, who's anything but a girl, and Naruto scrambles off Sasuke's lap when he sees Kiba stumbling to figure out whether he wants look to surprised or disgusted, eventually settling on leaving the library altogether. Anxious, Naruto accidentally pushes another book onto the floor in the process of trying to get away from Sasuke. A second loud thud echoes throughout the library the moment Naruto hits the ground running after Kiba's quickly retreating figure.

He doesn't look back, but the image of a red-faced and dishevelled Sasuke, lips slightly parted and too disoriented to speak or do anything detrimental to Naruto's life won't leave his mind by the time Naruto catches up with Kiba.

Kiba pulls away and continues to walk down the hall when Naruto reaches him and grabs his arm. Naruto tries but fails to explain what Kiba saw in the library, and he groans when Kiba complains about how he can't look Naruto in the eyes ever again. The red paint on Kiba's cheeks scrunch with his skin as he makes a face at Naruto, pausing outside the door of an empty classroom for what he says is a dramatic effect because he's that emotionally scarred. Crossing his arms, he follows the pause with a resolve to refrain from speaking to Naruto for the rest of his life because he doesn't want his vision to deteriorate any more. It's a resolve that only lasts two periods until lunch. Kiba still sits with Naruto at lunch four hours from the time he says he won't, and, through a mouthful of food, proceeds to tell everyone at the table that he saw Naruto kissing Sasuke.

Two days later, while they're walking to school, a significantly more level-headed Kiba asks why Sasuke hasn't killed Naruto yet. He claims he's waiting for Naruto to die a slow, painful death so he can hurry up and inherit the really cool autographed photo of Bump of Chicken he's been pining after ever since Naruto was lucky enough to get it signed during one of the band's concerts.

The only response Naruto can come up with is telling Kiba to shut the hell up about it because that same two days later means two days after he kissed Sasuke and two days of avoiding Sasuke; Naruto can't make himself look at those dark eyes without remembering those flushed cheeks and maybe thinks he enjoyed kissing his on-and-off friend a little more than he's supposed to.

...

The day after Naruto decides to write his best friend out of his mock will and bring it to school in order to show Kiba how serious he is about not giving up his Bump of Chicken memento, Naruto also decides he likes kissing Sasuke. He makes the decision after a considerable amount of contemplation for someone his age to make when it comes to something like that in a situation like this. He doesn't know why he likes kissing Sasuke since he still doesn't regard himself as anything that falls outside the category of straight, but the art of kissing and the science of groping are practices he is equally determined to perfect with Sasuke, who isn't quite uninterested, and it quickly becomes something like a well established routine.

It officially starts three days after Naruto ambushes Sasuke in the library. It's near the end of the day at school, and Shikamaru intentionally slips to Sasuke the details about the dare from Sakura, who isn't ashamed to admit to it and unabashedly confirms it when Sasuke demands her to. As soon as the two of them are alone in the classroom, Sasuke gives Naruto a black eye as a sort of delayed response for that first kiss and the basis of it, and Naruto nearly breaks Sasuke's nose in return as a favour for blaming Naruto for something Sasuke didn't exactly object when it happened.

They exchange a few choice words. Sasuke argues how Naruto is an asshole for kissing Sasuke on a dare in exchange for free ramen, and Naruto argues why Sasuke is a bastard for kissing back because it was far from an unreciprocated kiss. One moment, it's all a blur, a rapid entanglement of insults and the two of them pulling back and forth on a long string of words he's not sure if either of them truly mean. The next moment, although Naruto doesn't know who caves first, Sasuke's hands are cupping his face, long fingers rougher against his skin than Naruto expects, and then Naruto's pressing Sasuke against the dry erase board at the front of the room and into notes their history teacher scribbled during class about Oda Nobunaga and the Sengoku period. Being pressed against the board is messing up Sasuke's duck butt of an asinine hairstyle he hasn't changed since elementary school, with the ends formerly sticking up from the back of Sasuke's head in whichever direction flattened against the white surface of the board, and Sasuke's back smears the characters written in green and blue ink. The residue of the ink spills over like crumbs on Sasuke's uniform jacket, which isn't nearly the same colour as Sasuke's eyes, but Naruto's too focused on the hand beneath his shirt to notice the subconscious comparison.

Sasuke licks his lips and entices Naruto to open his mouth, and Naruto fucking _mewls_ because Sasuke is clearly making another attempt to swallow him whole if only to make Naruto think of what else Sasuke can do with those deceptively thin lips.

It's enough to make Naruto's throat dry. He's almost completely parched since he's enjoying what Sasuke is doing entirely too much, and if Sasuke was a drink, Naruto would compare him to his first experience with beer. Like going through half a case of Asahi during that one Friday night at Chouji's house that nearly results in a threesome with Ino and Ten-Ten, kissing Sasuke is the burn trailing down his oesophagus after Naruto takes the first swill with that scratchy sensation remaining even though Naruto's done enough coughing to hack up a lung.

The initial taste leaves him feeling tipsy but not drunk to the point where he can blame the stupidity of going through three cans of beer in less than fifteen minutes on being inebriated, and when he's smashed enough to no longer care, there's this kind of fluttering in his stomach. Yet, kissing Sasuke leaves a weird tingle in Naruto's stomach that has nothing to do with alcohol, and the itchiness in his throat only tempts him into wanting more.

He's still not satisfied when he pulls Sasuke closer. Naruto's hands go here and travel there, two fingers lingering around the button of Sasuke's pants. They're the only ones left in the room, stuck with cleaning duty while the rest of the school is mostly empty, but it's a daring move Sasuke doesn't exactly say anything against. Instead, Sasuke's trying to remove Naruto's shirt, and Naruto is stuck between wanting to get out of his shirt and pulling down the rest of Sasuke's zipper, but he's distracted from either because of the kissing-Sasuke's-highly-addictive-lips thing and the Sasuke's-hand-running-up-and-down-his-back thing, which are both kind of awesome.

The sound of the door sliding open breaks them apart, makes Sasuke push him away, and startles Naruto when he sees Kakashi leaning against the threshold. He's wearing a black patch over his left eye and a white surgical mask hiding most of his face that Naruto is sure are against school regulations. Their history teacher is peeking at them from over one of those idol magazines with the questionable looking girls who look underage that Naruto and Kiba used to giggle over in junior high, and Naruto thinks it's Kakashi's inherit depravity that probably involves more than looking at porn on school grounds preventing him from saying anything about interrupting Naruto's nearly successful attempt to get into Sasuke's pants.

Kakashi just snorts, but Sasuke rolls his eyes, and it's more than evident there's something Naruto's missing because Sasuke is only Naruto's on-and-off friend. What he can say about Sasuke is limited to knowing less than Sasuke's favourite colour or favourite food, and Naruto thinks it's something he wants to look into when he sees Sasuke brushing a long finger across those lips Naruto believes he's already coming to know pretty well.

...

The bruise around Naruto's eye is a light purplish-blue coloured ring, and Sasuke's nose no longer makes him look like he has trouble breathing with his mouth closed when he lets Naruto kiss him again. In the two weeks between the last make out session and the next time his lips make contact with Sasuke's on the train from Shinjuku to Odawara, Naruto comes to the conclusion that, even if he doesn't really understand it, his fascination with Sasuke's lips is more than simply highly addictive.

Unlike before, this kiss develops slowly, a gradual build towards something unexpected that almost doesn't happen. It's the Saturday Naruto arrives at Sasuke's house, a little before two in the afternoon, and in addition to the prickling on the back of his neck, there's a kind of excitement from standing in front of Sasuke's door that Naruto is only partially sure he wants there to be. He hasn't ventured inside since they were partnered for a biology project a couple of years ago in junior high, and it hasn't changed from the last time Naruto's seen it, but following the many hours he's clocked in with his mouth and hands roaming over Sasuke in an effort to commit everything about Sasuke to memory dumps a weight of an anticipation Naruto really can't place on his shoulders.

However, it's Itachi who opens the door when Naruto rings the bell for the fifth time, and Naruto feels himself deflate when Sasuke's older brother looks down on him. He doesn't think Itachi dislikes him. He doesn't think he's given a reason for Itachi _not_ to like him, but Naruto can't remember a time when encountering Itachi hasn't made him nervous—ridiculously jumpy like Itachi knows about the time Naruto was ten and accidentally took two boxes of Men's Pocky when he only paid for one from the convenience store by the school. And Naruto really hopes Itachi doesn't know about three days ago, when he and Sasuke were making out against the back wall of the same convenience store, Sasuke about to go on his knees in front of Naruto until the owner saw them and chased them away because he thought they were trying to steal his new shipment of the soda with the marble inside and the gummy candy that has the garlic and octopus flavour.

Whatever the case for his guilt, Naruto blames it on misplaced karma and drudges up a meek and overtly polite hello, waiting uncomfortably under the seemingly disinterested gaze; he busies himself by picking at the lint from the still damp shirt he took out of the dryer half an hour ago. His eyes flicker from the bags under Itachi's eyes to the immaculately applied nail polish on Itachi's nails, and Naruto wonders if it's one of those trends people follow when they're in college because he doesn't know how else to categorise the seemingly normality behind Sasuke's brother having his nails painted black.

No more than a few minutes pass when Sasuke makes an appearance and tries to squeeze by his brother with a quickly muttered bye. Itachi takes a hold of Sasuke's arm, tells his brother to be careful, and then Sasuke _smiles_, really smiles in a way completely different from the half-assed expressions and condescending smirks he only gives Naruto. It's enough to placate Itachi, who finally lets go of Sasuke, and Naruto can't decide if he's jealous of Sasuke for still having a sibling when Naruto only has Iruka, who's not so much family but rather a semi-guardian-like figure that lives next door to him, or jealous because Sasuke doesn't smile at Naruto like he smiles at Itachi.

It takes him a moment or two, but Naruto settles with being jealous of Itachi's car—the one in the driveway that Sasuke says is some foreign car from Italy with a name Naruto has trouble pronouncing and only knows costs a lot more than the cheap motorbike he's saving to buy from the tenant on the floor below him. There's even a neat little ashtray on the lower part of the console that Naruto can see through the tinted windows when he presses his face close to the glass. He wonders if Itachi knows that Sasuke is smoking even though he's underage, if he lets Sasuke use the silver ashtray that looks so expensive, and when he realises he says this aloud, Sasuke yanks him away from the window, muttering something about not wanting his brother killing him if he finds the imprints of Naruto's face and fingers on the window of Itachi's brand new car.

Naruto doesn't say he thinks it will be the other way around and lets an impatient Sasuke drag him in the direction of Odawara station. They take a detour when Naruto remembers he forgot his wallet, going down the sidewalk two blocks past Sasuke's place and another three before they reach Naruto's. Sasuke almost doesn't follow, frowning about not being able to get a seat on the 3:07 train if they're late. Naruto grabs his wrist and listens to his rumbling stomach intermingled with the sound of Sasuke's voice reminding Naruto that he's the one who harassed Sasuke into allowing Naruto to tag along with him to some hole in the wall shop somewhere in the Tokyo vicinity between Shinjuku and Nakano that sells outdated manga from the 80s that Sasuke has a penchant for.

As his stomach growls again, Naruto manages to haul Sasuke into the tiny kitchen of his already small apartment. Sasuke points out the obvious, and when Naruto offers to make something for Sasuke, he also tries to convince Sasuke ramen is the eighth wonder of the world, right before boiled eggs. Naruto conveniently leaves out the fact that ramen and eggs are the kinds of food he cooks because he lives by himself. It's embarrassing for Naruto to admit, living alone and the foods he eats because of it, but Sasuke rolls his eyes, like he's figured it out without Naruto having to say it and lets Naruto fix him a pack of ramen anyway.

Sasuke adds two pinches of bonito flakes and five drops of soy sauce, which Naruto takes the time to count, to the miso flavoured ramen he picks out from Naruto's pantry, and Naruto teases him about being born in Hokkaido even though the ramen Naruto buys is instant and nowhere near the quality of ramen found in Sapporo.

Sasuke isn't affected, pointing to Naruto's own pork flavoured ramen like it's supposed to be some significant gesture that has to do with living in Kanagawa and eating instant ramen with Naruto. But he doesn't say anything about the boiled eggs Naruto keeps piled in the refrigerator. He takes four out of the side compartment alongside a tomato he dices meticulously into little cubes that he pairs with the yolk of the two eggs he sets for himself, giving the other two to Naruto, and subsequently places the tomatoes and egg yolk on top of his noodles.

It's weird to say the least, but Naruto is too hungry to care. He slurps the remaining broth from his bowl and marginally gives into the urge to wipe the trickle of broth down Sasuke's chin. But Sasuke wipes it off with the back of his hand, and Naruto wipes his own hand on his shirt, pretending he's spilled broth on his palm.

They barely make the train at 3:02, grabbing a spot near the sliding doors. They're left to hold two of the remaining wobbly handrails, and Naruto tells himself he's hungry when he smells the remnants of freeze dried miso lingering on Sasuke's breath four hours later as they ride the Romance Car, taking the Odakyu line back to Odawara station.

There's still 45 minutes left to burn before they return to Kanagawa, and Naruto can only make so many jokes about sharing a seat on the Romance Car with Sasuke before Sasuke decides to ignore him completely.

Naruto's already bored fifteen minutes after they leave Shinjuku, but Sasuke is leaning his head against the window. He's gazing at the scenery going by too fast to notice, content with the small paper bag in his lap that contains his rare and off-beat shounen manga he bought from the store it takes 82 kilometres to get to. The last volume in a series of six, it's in pretty poor shape when it reaches Sasuke's hands. The cover's worn, crinkled and ready to tear at the spine. The ink is even smeared on most of the yellowed pages, and he wants to tell Sasuke it's a waste of money, but there's a light in Sasuke's eyes when he says it's what his brother used to read to him before it was discontinued. The story revolves around a boy who discovers a egg in his backyard that hatches into a dragon from another world, and Naruto shuts his mouth because it's not the kind of obsession or nerdy quirk Naruto thought it to be; it's nothing like with Shino, the upperclassmen in third year who's rumoured to live only for his video games, manga, and anime, and secludes himself in his room when he doesn't have to come to school. There's this look on Sasuke's face when he picks the manga up. It makes Sasuke seem younger than seventeen, makes Naruto feel younger than sixteen, and he's strangely pleased when Sasuke offers to let him borrow the other five volumes.

The bag rustles in Sasuke's lap, and Naruto breaks out into a shit-eating grin when he hears Sasuke humming under his breath. Naruto's mp3 player is broken, but Sasuke has his, and Naruto adjusts the ear bud he pesters Sasuke into giving him after hearing the familiar pulse and soft guitar riff that leads to the intro of Supernova. If ramen and eggs are the eighth and ninth wonders of the world, Bump of Chicken is nestled somewhere in between, and Naruto's glad Sasuke took his suggestion to add the band to his playlist since it means Sasuke likes the band, too.

Sasuke doesn't hum often, but Naruto thinks it's funny when he does because Sasuke doesn't realise he's doing it. He gets self-conscious whenever Naruto mentions it, stopping altogether, and Naruto is always compelled to watch Sasuke a little more closely before he tells Sasuke he's humming again.

Naruto bumps his shoulder against Sasuke's when Sasuke purses his lips together and refrains from humming. He snorts at the look Sasuke gives him. Irritated, Sasuke moves to take the earphone from Naruto's ear, but Naruto retaliates with the spur of the moment kiss that he can't remember planning to do.

It's chaste. Nothing hurried like the kind of kiss Naruto is used to having with Sasuke, which makes it all the more tentative, but even the blatant staring from the sleazy looking guy standing in the aisle, only a few centimetres away and well into Naruto's breathing space, doesn't dissuade him. Against his better judgement, Naruto finds something special about a simple kiss on the lips he gives to Sasuke because, despite his apparent lack of inhibitions, his Japanese mentality is still strong enough to prevent him from indulging in something as degenerate as openly making out with Sasuke in the middle of a crowded train where space is a rare luxury.

Sasuke looks at Naruto questioningly. He tilts his head a little, unfazed by the kiss, and snatches the small speaker from Naruto's ear.

There's a protest on Naruto's lips as the music fades from his ear, but it quiets when Sasuke puts the ear bud in his ear and rests his head against the window again. He hums the last bridge to Supernova before the song ends, and Naruto remembers how the vibration of sound travelling through Sasuke's throat feels against his mouth. It's one of Naruto's favourite parts of the song and maybe Sasuke's, too. There's a little smile on Sasuke's face, a fraction of the kind of smile he gives Itachi, one that's neither condescending nor something half-assed—like Sasuke's telling Naruto something more important than his favourite colour being blue and his unhealthy attachment to tomatoes.

He knows it's only a small upturn of Sasuke's lips. He knows there's really no reason for it to mean anything, but Naruto still treats it like a secret Sasuke's only sharing with him.

...

Sasuke shoves Naruto onto the ground hard, thighs squeezing Naruto's sides and not allowing Naruto to move because Sasuke has an almost exhibitionist streak alongside that devil-may-care attitude, which Naruto is just now realising despite the fact he's lost count of how many times they've made out in a semi-public place where it's easier for people to walk in on them.

It's hot, he admits, this fantasy he never knew he had of Sasuke straddling him beneath the bleachers of the Tokyo Dome. It's while the Yomiuri Giants are playing against some team from America, some kind of international preseason game, and he and Sasuke sneak into one of those empty lots practically under the bleachers that's off limits because Sasuke has this talent to pick locks that Naruto thinks is pretty cool. The screaming and chanting from the fans above them drowns out the obscene amount of noise he and Sasuke are making, and it's only kind of uncomfortable with the dirt in his lucky pair of shoes and the grass stains on the back of the new jeans he bought yesterday since, later on tonight, he plans on surprising Sasuke and taking him to this place that serves more than the instant ramen and boiled eggs Naruto is somehow able to survive off.

Naruto doesn't even like baseball, but Sasuke agrees to go when Naruto tells him Iruka has six spare tickets because Iruka works for a PR firm that frequently coerces him into things like buying discount tickets to prove his loyalty to the company.

Iruka invites Sakura, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Ino, too, and Naruto suspects Iruka has a suspicion about how much time he's spending with Sasuke. However, Iruka travels to Osaka instead of coming to the game, and it only takes half an inning before Naruto and Sasuke decide to leave their tenth row seats near Gate 22. Naruto ditches his friends with the ploy of showing Sasuke where the bathroom is even though it's obvious it's a sorry excuse.

It's better than saying he's ditching his friends to make out with Sasuke, which he thinks probably goes without saying judging by the looks everyone gives him because he doesn't just say it, but the crack of a bat hitting the ball is blasted in his ears, booming off the loudspeakers situated underneath the stands, reminds Naruto that the body grinding against him is more important than whatever his friends or Iruka feel about his relationship with Sasuke.

He bucks at the friction. It's Sasuke rubbing against the bordering on painful bulge in his jeans, the way the curve of Sasuke's ass keeps sliding over it. Definitely not enough when Naruto's hands start shaking because he's going commando and the denim is starting to chafe against his cock. He's not even close to coming, but it feels like he's been hard for hours, not minutes, and it's so damn far from being enough when Sasuke leans over him, leaving a wet trail on the side of Naruto's mouth that becomes cool when Sasuke lolls his head back.

It's killing him the way Sasuke's hand is pressing down on his chest, keeping him from getting up, and Naruto grabs Sasuke's shirt before Sasuke moves out of reach. His fingers stumble across Sasuke's skin. It's all a mass of solid warmth, slick with sweat, and he can't decide if he's supposed to move up and down or move his hand left and right. He bites his bottom lip when he strays across Sasuke's chest, pushing Sasuke's shirt up and holding it in place around Sasuke's neck so he can get a better view.

The announcer rambles about some guy named Suzuki scoring a homerun. It's the third inning, the score seven to two, and Naruto congratulates himself on retaining that much information when it seems like all he can concentrate on is his first glance at Sasuke's nipples.

He expects them to be a shade of pink, but they're a light brown, the actual nipple darker than the small area of skin around it. Naruto knows he likes breasts. In fact, he knows he loves breasts because technically he still thinks of himself as nothing other than straight, and he tells himself there's nothing wrong with the reality of pinching one of Sasuke's erect nipples replacing the once fantasy of seeing a naked Sakura bouncing up and down on his lap.

Sasuke moans, making a guttural sound that's deeper than Naruto's voice will ever go. There's something tempting about the way Sasuke arches his back that almost compensates for the grass stains on Naruto's jeans that will never come out, and makes it even harder to pull away when his mouth meets Sasuke's again.

Only Naruto does pull away and changes his mind about the grass stains when a groundskeeper finds them. Somehow, he hears them over the cheering crowd and threatens to ban them from the stadium for the duration of their unnatural lives while simultaneously chasing them out of the lot with some kind of weapon that may have been a rake some point in the past before it was mutilated. When they escape the groundskeeper and sneak back through Gate 22 and into their tenth row seats, Naruto ignores the questioning looks from his friends. He gives them an obviously forced grin coupled with a less than plausible excuse about there being a long line in the bathroom.

He's still painstakingly hard, a state Sasuke doesn't necessarily help alleviate when he comes up with the stupid idea to place his hand on Naruto's leg even though he does it under the cover of the jacket Naruto's using to hide his obvious bulge. Sasuke's fingers start at his knee and move up Naruto's thigh slowly, lightly touching anything that isn't Naruto's erection, but Naruto already knows what it feels like to have Sasuke rubbing against him, and he squeezes his eyes shut since it's not fair that Sasuke's such a damn tease. He grabs Sasuke's wrist, thrusts the hand in Sasuke's lap—where it belongs—and resists the embarrassing urge to cross his legs and the little smile on Sasuke's face that really makes him want to give in because there are some things he can't allow Sasuke to convince him to do.

...

It's the hottest day of the summer since the Monday before last, and Naruto finds something particularly satisfying about fooling around with Sasuke in a house with a broken air conditioner that makes everything seem too hot even with all the windows open. Sasuke's house is big, a mansion in comparison to the little space Naruto calls an apartment that they can't fool around in because the walls are too thin, and he doesn't want to risk his neighbours hearing because they'll tell Iruka, but there's something even more satisfying about fooling around with Sasuke in a house free of Itachi, who won't be back until the end of the weekend. Sunday is a whole day and a half away and seemingly an eternity away from ten o'clock on a Friday morning.

Four months since Sakura's dare, three weeks after nearly getting barred from Tokyo Dome, and two whole days of not being able to kiss Sasuke because of end of the year exams and Sasuke taking studying way too seriously, all lead to an accumulation of pent up sexual frustration that Naruto lets out the moment he kicks off his shoes.

The retro looking red and blue shoes popular in America he used to see on those annoying thirty second commercials that still made him want to buy them are thrown hastily on the floor. Sasuke scowls, saying something about Naruto being careless and leaving scuff marks on the baseboards, but Naruto's too focused on Sasuke's lips to pay attention. He grabs Sasuke by the collar and pushes Sasuke onto the incredibly comfortable bed that Naruto wants to spend as much time in as possible. Sasuke starts to pull away but moans when Naruto's tongue is in his mouth, and there's this overwhelming sensation of relief that Naruto can't begin to put into words.

He remembers throwing Sasuke's shirt against the door, his own pants tossed on the back of Sasuke's chair that's pushed under the desk, and suddenly they're naked. The only chance they have of being interrupted is a phone call here or there that can easily be ignored, and there's no need to rush because they're actually in Sasuke's room. They're not in the library where there's no room to make noise, not in a classroom anyone can walk into, not being squished together on a train that's always crammed full of people, and definitely not rolling in the dirt beneath the stands of Tokyo Dome. And while Naruto thinks Sasuke's room is the most plain and mundane room he's ever seen, it's okay because Sasuke's in it. The white walls and white sheets and empty mahogany desk save for the nondescript looking blue table lamp and Sasuke's black book bag becomes so much more when his cock rubbing against Sasuke's is the only thing he can feel and the low pitched moans that Sasuke makes are the only sounds he can hear.

This is the farthest they've gone. But Naruto's not ready for anything other than kissing and handjobs or blowjobs, and still blanches at the idea of anal sex when Sasuke brings it up even if he doesn't blanch when he thinks of the penetrative sex he's had with girls before. Though, he likes this, too. Naruto can get over the fact that Sasuke doesn't have breasts, although he's not comfortable with the concept of sticking one of his fingers in _there_ and doesn't want to be responsible for giving new meaning to the phrase anal retentive bastard, which he happens to call Sasuke a lot.

Being this close to Sasuke is good for now, and Naruto decides he's only slightly less than absolutely straight, maybe even a little more than slightly less because an addiction to Sasuke's lips has transformed into a dedication to Sasuke's body. He likes the way they mould together, the way Sasuke wraps himself around Naruto with legs strong enough to knock Naruto unconscious if he thinks about the time Sasuke kicked him in the face two years ago for making fun of the hairstyle he refuses to change. It's the same hair that tickles his cheeks whenever Naruto places his face on top of Sasuke's head, prickling like the heat from the sun blaring at his back, and when he sits up and looks down, he's mesmerised by the way the light from the window shimmers against Sasuke's skin. Naruto lets his head hit the pillow, taking up the space above Sasuke's head, and he buries his face in Sasuke's hair again. The combination is like Naruto's own version of MAYDAY, with Sasuke humming the melody against his throat, and for a moment everything disappears beneath an incomprehensible need to kiss Sasuke again.

His mouth moves down Sasuke's face, trailing kisses until he reaches Sasuke's lips, thin but as lush and bright as the cherry pop lipstick Sakura would wear when she and Naruto used to go out. It's the same colour that clashes badly with her pink hair and the same colour she'd smudged over her face the first time she gave Naruto a blowjob. Inherently, Naruto knows there's something wrong with the way he keeps comparing his ex-girlfriend to whatever Sasuke is to him four months after that first kiss, but Sakura is just as much of a pervert as Naruto is—if not more—and she's the one who's to blame for why he's dry humping Sasuke like there's no tomorrow.

And Naruto realises there actually may not be a tomorrow when Sasuke's door begins to open with an agonisingly slow creak and neither Naruto nor Sasuke have an opportunity to put on clothes before a more than disgruntled looking Itachi appears on the other side.

Naruto feels his breath catch somewhere in his throat, yet Sasuke lies there like Itachi catching him naked with another guy is nothing new, which isn't right because it's new to Naruto, considering he's never been naked with another guy period and being caught by Itachi makes Naruto's ruined weekend with Sasuke the least of his problems. He doesn't care about the blush on his face that spreads to the rest of his body, all the way down to his toes. He figures he has a right to be modest because his bare ass is sticking up in the air in front of Sasuke's older brother, which reminds Naruto that Sasuke is Itachi's little brother, which then reminds him that Itachi will no longer see him as Sasuke's on-and-off friend, and Naruto thinks all kinds of metaphorical shit is about to hit the fan.

In a voice too calm and level to be anything less than life-threatening, Itachi tells Sasuke to get dressed. In that same voice, he tells Naruto to leave immediately, with the added implication to never go near his little brother again that Naruto hears clearly, if only in his head. The second one is questionable until further notice; however, the first one is something Naruto earnestly tries to fulfil because when he strains his neck to look at Itachi, there's this flash of something sinister in Itachi's eyes that makes Sasuke's glares look petulant by comparison, like the one Sasuke's giving Naruto that dares Naruto to move.

Unfortunately, even though Itachi's glare is having more of an impact on Naruto than Sasuke's and despite the fact that Naruto wants to move, Sasuke won't let him. Initially, he thinks it's some defiant gesture to his brother, but Sasuke's even more flushed than Naruto. He holds Naruto tighter because he doesn't want Naruto to let go, and Naruto thinks, under normal circumstances that didn't include Itachi, he would have enjoyed the sight of a Sasuke shameless at the thought of making out in public being debunked.

There's something about it that turns him on when it really shouldn't, something he bites his tongue not to think of as endearing, and it's that kind of thinking that's the precursor to Naruto's assured death.

He murmurs to Sasuke about dying young, apologising about not getting a chance to know Sasuke better, and tries to make Sasuke promise to move on without him so he can tell Iruka and their friends to remember Naruto as he was while conveniently not mentioning Naruto's last moments because dying in Sasuke's bed is not what he wants on his epitaph.

Cheeks becoming redder, Sasuke hisses at him to shut up and stop being so melodramatic, but Naruto kisses him one last time with the regret of not including Sasuke in his mock will. He closes his eyes in preparation for the inevitable in the hopes that Kiba will do the right thing and give Sasuke Naruto's autographed photo of Bump of Chicken.


End file.
